A Terminator in Diagon Alley
by CycoMW
Summary: Sarah Connor wasn't the only target. Skynet didn't just build one time machine. Whilst John Connor might have been the leader of the resistance he wasn't the only threat to Skynet. Short story. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

...

A dismal unremarkable alley. The disturbance began with whipping winds, unusual but not impossible, soon large discharges of static electricity were added, this being something that shouldn't have been possible in the moist air and ended with a bright flash of light. And it all went unnoticed by everyone except a dog that howled and was then yelled at.

The figure that left the alley shortly thereafter would have caught anyone's attention. Tall, strong and very naked. But by then the that had yelled at the dog had his head firmly back on his pillow and the thick blinds covering his window were undisturbed.

...

Half an hour later, as the first figure was approaching the parking entrance of a police station wrapped up in rags, in a small inner suburban street a some distance away that same strange phenomena was reoccuring. Localised winds and static discharges sparking off scrap metal and trash cans. Likewise it ended with a flash of bright light, this time the flash was centered on the front yard of a fairly small house. However this time it woke up someone. The still inebriated Victor Meadows, who had been sleeping on the couch of his small unit, groaned and rubbed his eyes as he stumbled to his feet. His unimpressed wife of only a few months remained blissfully asleep and unaware in the bedroom.

Victor stumbled to the front door and opened it and blinked stupidly at the naked man with long blonde hair who was hopping about and gritting his teeth just a few steps from his door.

"Eh? Wha' da hell? Hey.. No.. keep away from me you…" The Victor's surprised exclamation followed by shock as he caught the naked man's attention and then fear as he was charged was cut short by a swift uppercut to his left cheekbone.

...

"Hey, you can't come in here. You need to take all enquiries to the front desk. Just head back the way you came and then turn right."

"Hey! I'm talking to you. You aren't allowed down here."

Officer Preston unsnapped the clasp on his truncheon as he approached the strangely dressed man who had so far ignored everything he had said. He blinked a few times as he got close enough to notice that what he was wearing barely fitted the description of clothing. Roughly torn material seemingly formed in the fashion of clothes, little more than rags. If it wasn't for the man's large healthy physique and styled hair he would have presumed him a beggar. The incongruous clothes sparked his suspicion that this might not just be another person how had wandered where they shouldn't have.

"Stop right there and identify yourself." He snapped, all attempts to politeness gone.

Preston, who had just recently parked his car in preparation for starting his shift, was no small man but the man in front of him was half a head higher and carried a lot more muscle bulk. The officer had his truncheon half drawn but even so it wasn't enough for when the other man suddenly turned and took two huge strides towards him, fist swinging.

Preston only managed the beginning of a yell before his jaw shattered and his head smacked backwards fast enough to snap his neck.

...

There was a faint click as the door unlocked then a faint crack soon accompanied by the smell of burnt plastic and fried electronics. The door was quietly eased open and a dark figure edged into the side and shadowed entrance of the pistol and rifle club.

The figure quickly made his way through the premises, through another heavier and better locked door. After closing that door he switched on a light in the windowless room. The tall blonde man, now wearing some slightly short slacks and a slightly oversized sports jacket moved towards the gun safes which were little more than lockers with flimsy locks that didn't slow him down at all. Once he had collected everything he wanted he turned his attention to the large automatic shotgun shell reloader.

He emptied one of the shot feed containers into a large tray and then reached for the first aid kit he had taken off the wall mount. A few minutes later he turned on the reloader grimacing at the loud noise the machine made. He waited impatiently picking at the bandage now wrapped around his left hand.

By the time the man had collected his shells and stored them alongside his newly acquired collection of shotguns and pistols the sun was starting to rise and rather than return to the car he had driven here in he picked another car and departed.

...

"What the hell did that?"

"Well, it looks like a fist punched through the door and then ripped the lock off."

The superintendent snorted, "Right, and so what do you think really happened."

The inspector paused for a moment thinking about it, "If I wanted to replicate this I'd use a door ram, gas powered, with its head cast to resemble a fist. Then some modified jaws of life to take the lock off. Half a day at a forge and another half a day at the metal shop and I could put together something that could do this. They'd be heavy though. Take a few big guys to cart it around."

The superintendent nodded, "Metal workers. Maybe mechanics. Now armed. How many guns were in there?"

"That's something I don't get, most of the weapons are still there. They had the time to pull this off and get away clean but only took a handful of weapons. Lots of ammunition though. They still doing a full count but at a glance at the racks it seems like they only grabbed a pair of Safaris, two of the Rugers and a pair of the High Powers."

The superintendent shook his head, "Two offices dead, a bunch of so called security doors wrecked and all that just for half a dozen weapons. No. There is something else is happening here. Double check the evidence lockup. Make doubly sure nothing was taken from there.

...

Someone knocked loudly on the front door.

"Can you get that dear?"

Chris moaned, "Oh for goodness sake. It's like.. seven thirty.. this better not be some salesman."

"It's probably Deidre here to pick me up early. Tell her I'm still only half dressed."

"Right." Chris grunted as he pulled himself out of bed and through on a dressing gown. He gave his wife a little smile as he his eyes roved over her partially dressed form. She rolled her eyes and waved him out.

"Coming." he called out when the knocking was repeating.

"Ohh… hello officer. What can I do for you?" he asked when he found it was very un-Deidre man.

The massive six foot police man stared down at him through dark sunglasses. "Mr C. Dursley?"

"Ehh yes? Is everything okay?"

"I just have a few questions. It won't take a moment. May I come in?" The police man however didn't wait for a response walking forward forcing Chris to step back.

"Ehh…" Chris didn't want to argue but he was sure that the police meant to wait for permission before entering.

"Where is Harry Potter?"

The policeman's abrupt question made him forget his partially formed question, "Ehh who?"

"Harry James Potter."

"I don't know anyone by that name."

The policeman just stared at him for a moment no expression at all on his face. Chris had a sudden thought that this would not be someone he would want to play poker with. The stare made him nervous and he really wanted this interview to be over so he decide to try and be as helpful as he could.

"I'm afraid I don't even know anyone by the name of Potter at all and the only Harry I know of it my wife's father, Harry Harmon, and he passed away a few years ago."

"Thank you for your cooperation Mr Dursley. Is there anyone else in the house?"

"Ehh.. no problems. Just my wife but she's getting ready for work."

Chris watched first with curiosity and then horror as the policeman reached into the large gym style police bag he was casually carrying and pulled out a massive handgun. He turned to run but he had barely turned away when the first round took him in the side of the head. He was already dead when the second bullet entered just beside it.

Susan Dursley nee Harmon had only just managed to finish dressing when she heard two massive bangs from the front of the house. Hoping nothing was wrong she entered the hall and turned to face the lounge when she heard another bang.

...

It was midmorning by the time the blonde man arrived in Little Whinging. He knocked on the door to Number 6 Privet Drive and nodded to the elderly lady that opened the door.

"Good morning Miss. Sorry to disturb you on this fine morning but I was attempting to deliver a parcel to your neighbours, the Dursleys, and was informed that someone would be home today to sign for it. But it seems I have missed them. Do you know where they might be or when they might be back? I am kind of hoping not to have to make a return visit as the depot is a good distance from here."

He beamed a pleasant and hopeful smile at the old lady.

The lady blinked up at the tall figure and returned the smile, "Well, it's Dudley's birthday today and they went off to the Zoo as a treat for the boy."

The man blinked twice before nodding, "Ahh. That would explain the reason for requesting the special Sunday delivery service. Well being that's it's likely a birthday present I'll leave a note and make an effort to get it to them before the day it out. My thanks to you. Have a pleasant day."

He turned, not waiting for a response, and headed back to his car.

It was only a few minutes later that the elderly lady realized that the man had forgotten to leave a note for the Dursleys.

...

Superintendent Fitzpatrick rubbed his forehead, "Let me get this straight. Husband and wife dead, each killed with two shots to the head and four Browning Hi-Power shells left on the floor of the lounge room. Shells that could easily be some of those stolen from our lockup earlier this morning."

Inspector Wiley nodded, "That's what I've been told so far. Neighbours report hearing four shots. Two then a very short pause then two more. Grahams stated that the gunman or gunmen were experts. Twin taps both times to the centre mass of the head. The husband, a Chris Dursley was shot in the lounge at close range, but preliminary evidence suggests that the wife, Susan Dursley, was shot down the length of the hallway. Probably as she investigated the noise from the lounge. Clear line of view from where the shooter would have been as he killed Mr Dursley and from where the shells were found."

"Damn. This is going to be bad. I wonder…. Make sure to have Graham look into any sort of connections between Mr Dursley and any sort of police actions in the past. Maybe this is some sort of revenge trip by someone who has a grudge with both the Dursleys and us."

Wiley pursed his lips, "The break in was just to make us look bad?"

Fitzpatrick shrugged, "It makes as much, or as little sense, as anything else I can think of. Anything else?"

"There was a break in at South London Pistol and Rifle club house. Looks like a few shotguns and a couple of pistols were taken from the private lockers. First Aid kit and cash box were emptied as well but still plenty of other guns and valuables there were left behind. Also traces of blood on the shotgun cartridge reloader. Sounds like someone did a very rough job of cleaning up the blood with bleach."

"Sounds too similar to be a coincidence. Any signs of how they got in?"

"Nothing that makes sense. All the doors and even the individual safes looked like they had been opened normally. So either someone had copies of the keys from two dozen individual gun owners or they were able to pick and figure out how to open a dozen combination locks between two and seven thirty am. And I've saved the best for last. All the alarms were burnt out just like ours were."

"Right. I'm calling in reinforcements."

Wiley didn't even argue.

...

"Harry Potter? Never heard of him and wouldn't tell you if I did. You want to ask me anything else get a bloody warrant."

_Probability subject's answer to primary question truthful 92.1%_

"Erkk.. let go of me, You can't touch me. I have rights too you know!"

"Where is Harry Potter?"

"Let me go. I told you I don't know no Harry Potter or where he is. "

_Probability subject's answer to primary question truthful 99.3%  
><em>_Probability subject unable to further assist with mission 96.3%__  
><em>

"Thank you for your cooperation Mr Dursley."

"Yeah. Sure whatever. Now piss off before I.. hell look what you did to my jacket… I should sue.. what the.."

Bang. Bang.

...

Harry was doing his best not to smile. He was having the best morning he had had in a very long time and he didn't want to upset his uncle and aunty be actually looking like he was enjoying himself.

The zoo was an amazing place and he even managed to score a lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad. The only thing that had him a bit nervous was that he was sure that there was a tall blonde man watching him and his family. The man didn't look very friendly and had a massive scar that covered his right cheek, jaw and neck. It looked like a real bad burn and made the man look like he was always sneering. He was a bit surprised that people didn't seem to react to the man strangely. Even his uncle didn't comment on it and he was usually quick to comment on anything that he didn't like no matter how rude he might seem.

He didn't pay too much attention to what was happening at lunchtime. He was too busy enjoying his knickerbocker glory, well, what was left of Dudley's first one, still, it was the best desert he had ever had. He did catch the tall blonde man eating a few tables away. He guessed the man hadn't eaten for a while because he certainly ordered a lot and then ate it all but he didn't think too much about it or about the fact that his uncle came back from paying his food looking rather worried and then had them all stand around the front of the zoo keeper's office whilst he went in to make a, so called, quick phone call. Dudley certainly wasn't happy about having to wait around doing nothing and he and Piers were taking it out on Harry so he didn't get a chance to overhear what Vernon whispered to Aunt Petunia when he returned even more pale and looking around suspiciously.

...

"Damn it. Stop transferring me."

"Mr Dursley?"

"Yes. How many times do I have to repeat myself? I am Vernon Dursley and I just heard on the radio about some crazy is out there killing Dursleys and I want protection!"

"Good. Because that's just what we want to provide you. Now where are you?"

"Don't you people listen! I've already told you I'm at the London Zoo. Here with my family."

"Alright Mr Dursley. You're in a public place, you'll be safe. I'll send some officers out to you straight away. I suggest you and your family stay visible. Don't leave the zoo. Now can you tell me who is with you?"

"Damn straight you be sending out some officers straight away. I pay taxes! It's me, my wife and my son and his friend. Oh and, yeah, my nephew."

"Their names and the ages of your son, his friend and your nephew please?

"Ohh.. Petunia Dursley, Dudley Dursley and Piers Polkiss, they are both eleven, and Harry Potter, he's… eh.. ten."

"Okay. Thanks my Dursley. Our officers are on their way. When you see them please approach them."

"Make it quick!"

Click.

_Intercepted signal: end  
><em>_Query return: London Zoo: Location: Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, 51.5352875° N, 0.1561027° W__  
><em>

...

The reptile house was cool and dark and Vernon refused point blank to go in and it was only after Dudley threw another tantrum did he allow Petunia to take the boys in whilst he waited at the entrance.

Harry's attention was caught by the huge Brazilian Boa Constrictor that Dudley considered boring when it wouldn't respond to his and Pier's pounding. Harry moved close enough that his nose was almost touching the glass and stared at the massive snake as it rested trapped in the large enclosure.

Suddenly the head uncoiled from the rest of it's body and lifted up to it could look directly into Harry's eyes. The snake shifted its head ever so slightly and Harry was sure that the snake had just winked at him though he didn't see any eyelid move.

Harry blinked and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Dudley and Piers were staring and laughing at some small brightly patterned snake and Petunia was staring daggers at a young couple holding hands. The tall blonde man was a good distance away and seemed to be almost smiling as he stared at Harry. Then he too winked at Harry before shrugging slightly.

Suddenly Harry was sure that man didn't mean him any harm and so he turned back to the Boa and winked back.

With a look to the ceiling and a nod towards Dudley and Piers the snake gave Harry a look that quite plainly said, "I get that all the time."

Harry whispered back, "That must be really annoying."

The snake nodded back.

"Have you been stuck in there for long?" Harry asked.

The snake uncoiled and jabbed its tail at the small sign.

Harry peered at it and read down until he found the part that informed him that the snake was bred in the Zoo. "Ohh. So you've never been outside the zoo then?"

The snake shook its head and a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "Dudley! Look at the snake! You won't believe what it's doing!"

Dudley waddled over and punched Harry in the ribs sending him hard to the concrete floor. Dudley and Piers pushed up against the glass and start banging it again. Then suddenly the glass wasn't there and Piers and Dudley, their weight pushed against the now non existent glass suddenly tumbled forward with a yell.

...

Score watched with amusement as the Boa quickly disappeared out through the back door of the enclosure sending the visitors scattering in Terror. Piers had already managed to climb out of the enclosure but his and Harry's Aunt's efforts to pull the grossly overweight Dudley over the barrior were failing miserably.

He watched Harry as the bemused boy looked around and when their eyes met again he winked again and then slowly walked forward and reached down to give the boy a hand up. This seemed like as good as time as any.

"Hi there. You okay?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah. Just a bit bruised. Aren't you afraid of the snake?"

Score shook his head, "It's already gone and Boa's don't typically go out of their way to attack people."

"You know about much snakes?" Harry asked

"A fair bit. Favourite animal you know. Would love to be able to speak to them."

"Yeah. that'd be cool." Harry mused.

The smirk briefly returned to Score's face before he grimaced and started his speil.

"I know you are aware I've been following you. I've got a lot to tell you and most of it you're probably not going to believe it at first. I know you're Harry Potter and I know how your parents died, and it wasn't in any car accident. I'm not here to hurt you, that I promise." Score paused and waited for the reaction.

Harry just looked at him for a moment before glancing back at Petunia who, assisted by one of the zoo staff, had managed to pull Dudley out of the enclosure.

The Harry turned back and asked, "How did they die?"

Score winced, maybe he shouldn't have started with that after all, "A dark wizard killed them. He also tried to kill you but his spell backfired."

Harry stared at him with emotionless eyes, "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Score blinked, "Eh.. Not really... well I guess it is part of it." He frowned. Hell, he was getting all flustered talking to a ten year old boy. Even if he was Harry Potter that wouldn't do. Surely he was better than this. "Look Harry. You are in great danger. I'm not the only one who has been looking for you. How about we sit down somewhere public and I'll explain and show you a few things to prove what I am talking about and then if you're satisfied I'll take you somewhere safe."

"And if I'm not satisfied you'll take me anyhow?"

Score winced again. How did a ten year old get so cynical and so alert. Still he couldn't exactly lie. "That's the plan. I'd prefer you to come willingly so I can protect you without having to worry about you running away."

"HARRY!"

Score turned with Harry to look over at Harry's overweight uncle.

"GET OVER HERE BOY!"

Vernon Dursley was standing with his equally overweight son, his stick insect thin wife, the other boy whose name Score hadn't caught and a very large police officer.

It Score but a moment to pick up the fact that the policeman's outfit didn't quite fit and that it was a very familiar face staring straight at Harry.

...

Dursley spotted the police officer as he towered above the crowd of other zoo patrons. Vernon pushed his way roughly through the crowds his anger at having to wait building but when he finally got close enough to grasp the sheer size of the man it put pause to his prepared tirade.

"Officer. I am Vernon Dursley. Are you here to provide protection?"

The policeman looked down at him, pale blue eyes catching and transfixing Vernon's in their intensity.

"Yes. Where is the rest of your family?"

"They are in the reptile house. What's going on? Have you caught those responsible yet?" Vernon spoke the questions quickly as he struggled to keep up with the now swiftly walking officer.

"Is your nephew still with them?"

"What? Yeah. I guess so. But what's that got to do with anything? Hey what's happening"

Vernon stared at the crowds streaming out of the reptile house.

"Mr Dursley. Which are your family?"

Vernon frowned as he peered at all the people yelling and running, "I don't see them. They must still be inside. Why is everybody running around. Do you think the killer.. Hey. Slow down."

Vernon didn't like the expressionless look that the officer gave him however the officer did walk a little slower as they continued back to the Reptile house.

Inside Vernon found one two of the zoo staff surrounding his crying son and his very upset wife. Piers was sitting nearby face white. He didn't see Harry and didn't bothering looking once he had found his family. "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Oh. It was terrible. Dudley and Piers fell into the snake enclosure. They could have been killed."

The officer spoke up, "Which boy is Harry Potter?"

Vernon glared at the officer in anger. What was the deal about the useless boy. "Didnt you hear. This is Dudley and Piers. My son and his friend. I don't know where Harry is."

"I require to know the location of Harry Potter so I can provide your protection." Was the emotionless reply.

Vernon grunted and glared around. He needed that protection and now the useless freak was distracting his police protection. Then he spotted him talking to a tall blonde man. He gritted his teeth before yelling.

"HARRY! GET OVER HERE BOY!"

...

_Target acquired._

The terminator pushed Vernon roughly aside so he had a clearer shot and withdrew the Ruger Mini 14 rifle. It already had the police modifications and hadn't required any conversion to turn it to fully automatic. The safety was off and all he had to do was aim and hold down the trigger. He noted the tall man with light hair was aiming a shotgun at him. A subroutine recognised the model as a Winchester Model 1200 and pegged it as a non-threat to his chassis so he ignored it as he brought the Ruger into position.

The Winchester fired and he noted both the stronger than expected impact and the amount of negative G's he was experiencing.

_Gyros offline. Massive bruising of chest organics. Minimal internal damage. Damage nonconsitant with standard Winchester Model 1200 or ammunition. Non standard firearm and or ammunition. Probability ta02 enhanced ability human: 65.3%. Probability ta02 allied with enhanced ability humans: 98.8%._

As soon as the terminators internal gyroscopes passed the baseline compensation for movement he was sitting up and firing. There was only minimal probability that the target would still be in range but there was no negative to such wild firing as his gyroscopes continued their re-initialisation.

He scanned the room and being unable to locate his primary or target ta02 he turned towards the Dursleys cowering against the snake counter. He calculated probabilities on how their deaths could affect the success of his mission and how leaving them alive would affect his cover.

He lifted his gun and aimed it at Vernon Dursley. "Do not talk about me or I will come back and kill you."

Vernon shakily nodded.

"Say it." The terminator demanded.

"I won't talk about you. I promise."

_Probability subject's will hold to statement 81.6%_

He cut short any further determination when his sensors picked up the sounds of door closing that had a good chance of being caused by his primary target and ta02.

Whilst his gyros were still not fully re-initialised he was still able to set off at fast jog on an intercept course.

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

...

Inspector Wiley hang up the phone and swore a few times. He scribbled a few notes and then headed towards Fitzpatrick's office. He didn't actually mind Fitzpatrick. Hell, he was miles better than the last Superintendent, but he sure wasn't looking forward to talking to him again today. He felt like a yoyo. Little more than a glorified message boy bringing a steady stream of bad news to him. He barely had time to actually do any investigation but it seemed every single piece of news he heard from field was something that had to be reported immediately. He hadn't been onboard with Fitzpatrick's idea that this was some sort of plot to make them look back but it was becoming hard to not lend some credence to the idea.

He knocked lightly as he walked into the office. At least Fitzpatrick wasn't such a stuck up arse that he wanted every single t crossed and i dotted.

Fitzpatrick was just finishing a call so Wiley slumped into the chair across the desk as the Superintendent rapidly ended the call.

"Go."

Wiley suppressed a small twitch of his lips. They had already got past the point where Fitzpatrick has stopped asking for good news.

"There was a gun fight at the Zoo. No clear idea what happened as it seems a Boa Constrictor escaped or was let loose right before the shooting. Reports from one of the zoo keepers that one of our uniforms let loose with a machine gun and an amount of 5.56 cartridges found at the scene partially confirm that. Also a shotgun shell marked with the South London Pistol and Rifle Club log was found. However we have no reports of any our officers being there at the time."

He paused for a long breath before continuing.

"We found found a few faint traces of blood splatter near the 5.56's. The Dursleys were too scared to talk and the elder kept demanding his lawyer. Their nephew was missing but they seemed more upset about us asking after him than the fact that he was missing."

Fitzpatrick clacked his teeth together a few times. "So we haven't really got anything yet?"

Wiley shook his head, "Not really. Graham said the way that Mr Dursley clammed up about the shooting and his nephew seemed pretty off so I followed through with his suggestion to send a few marked to their house. Do you think we have enough to get a search warrant?"

"I'm getting pressure to find something and even something as flimsy as this is more than we have had so far. Bring the paperwork in here and we'll fill the thing in together and we'll have the place searched within the hour."

Wiley's eye widened slightly as he rushed out. He didn't want to think about what kind of pressure Fitzpatrick was under to put filling in paperwork for a search above everything else that was crowding his desk.

...

"DEDALUS!" came the shout from the fireplace.

Dedalus choked on his pint and nearly dropped his mug.

"DEDALUS!" the voice repeated.

He knew that voice and hadn't heard that tone in it for years. Not since… He ended that thought quickly and carefully putting down his mug rushed over to the fireplace. "I'm here. I'm here."

The head of Albus Dumbledore sat in amongst the glowing embers of his cold fireplace. There was a frown on his face and Dedalus was about to start protesting that it was just the one pint with lunch when Dumbledore started to speak. "I need you to check on Harry. One of his health charms has triggered and I'm currently in Geneva and can't return. It's not likely to be anything serious but I want you to go there and make sure. Make sure he'll be okay and that he and his family don't remember your visit."

Dedalus nodded quickly. "Of course. I'll get right on to it. Should I activate my tracking charm?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "Check his home first. If you do need to activate it make sure you remove and recast another unactivated one afterwards."

Dedalus wanted to protest that he perfectly well knew the procedure but he knew he shouldn't talk back to Dumbledore so he just nodded. "Of course. I'll go right now."

Dumbledore nodded, "Good. Thanks Dedalus."

Then he was gone.

Dedalus eyed his half empty pint and the few spoonfuls of his stew. It couldn't hurt to down those whilst he got changed would it?

...

"Is Score really your name?"

Score laughed, "Not really."

"So why do you call yourself that?"

"Eh.. maybe when you're older I'll explain. Now hold still, I'm going to fix your arm."

Harry grimaced as Score held his wrist. He stared intently at the piece of dirty looking wood that the blonde man had pulled from his jacket and pointed it at the cut from the shattering glass from earlier.

Score mumbled a few strange sounding words and then suddenly the cut sealed itself and the sharp pain became only a dull throbbing.

"Wow. How did you do that?"

"Magic!" Score smirked.

"Is that a wand? Why does it look so dirty?"

Score frowned at the makeshift wand, "It's a blood wand, not a real wand but usable in an emergency."

"Blood?"

"Yeah. Used my own blood, though a magical creature's blood would have been better, if I had access to one. A real wand made by a master would be even better but that'll have to wait. Dawn tomorrow we'll make you a wand like this."

"Me?"

Score nodded and grinned, "Yeah Harry. It's not really supposed to be my line but… You're a wizard."

...

Officer Terry Reyes sighed as yet another civilian decided to come over and have a chat. This one was looked even more unusual than the strange old lady who had turned up walking a cat. Terry resisted the urge to smirk and shake his head at the purple top hat the small man was wearing, and this suburb had at first looked so normal.

"Can I help you sir?" He asked politely wishing he could have scored some sort on duty inside the house.

"Oh hello mister policeman."

Terry couldn't resist the urge to blink a few times at that.

The small man beamed happily, "I was just coming over for a spot of tea and wondering if everything was alright?"

Terry gave a tiny sigh. He had heard better excuses. "Everything is fine, Sir. How about you head on home and make yourself a cuppa there."

The man almost hopped from foot to foot as he tried to decide what to say. Terry waited patiently for what was probably going to be an attempt to get some sort of juicy story from him.

"Is Harry okay?"

Terry resisted the urge to roll his eyes already knowing the answer to his next question, "Are you a relative?"

The tiny man shook his head then paused and looked like he was going to contradict his instinctive response but Terry cut him off before he could make a fool of himself.

"Look sir, I'm sorry but I can't comment on an ongoing investigation. I suggest you direct all enquiries to the local police station. If you want I can provide you a number to call."

"On the telephone? Oh no. That's quite okay. I'll find.. I'll just.. just go make myself some tea. Sorry to bother you mister policeman."

Terry rolled his eyes as the man with the strange hat walked away. He returned to keeping watch on the street and the few nosy neighbours. He did continue to send the occasional glance at the the little man as he headed towards the end of the street. Just prior to turning the corner he noted another policeman come around the corner and take the little man by the upper arm.

Terry frowned a little at that. There weren't a whole lot of instances in when initiating physical contact with a bystander was acceptable. He watched with narrow eyes as the big policeman escorted the small guy around the corner and out of sight then, with frown still fixed on his face returned to his duty watching the street.

...

"Where are we going now? You're not going to take me home now are you?" Harry asked worriedly. He imagined his uncle would be incredibly angry by now.

Score shook his head, "No Harry. Not if you don't want me to. I'm hoping that you'll let me take you away from them and teach you everything that I can about magic and the future. Judgement day is coming and I want you to be prepared."

Harry gave a little grin at that. It was hard to believe that people could travel from the future but magic was also supposed to be impossible and Score had already proved that existed and it did explain some of the strange things that had happened.

Harry hadn't understood half of what the spells Score had cast did even though he had give brief explanations as he cast each. Still Harry was very impressed to now have blonde hair, have glasses that weren't cracked and have all his clothes now mostly fit right, have no holes and also be different colours. He didn't understand all the bit about tracking but Score had been satisfied with the results of the spells he had cast so he didn't worry about it too much. Did he want to see more magic and learn how to do it himself? Definately.

"Oh yes please. I never want to go back to them and they wouldn't want me to anyhow. They've always wanted to have someone come and take me away."

Score gave him a small very tight smile. "Okay. Well what I'm about to do isn't strictly legal but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Stealing cars isn't something you should do for fun or profit. Only when it's a life or death matter."

Score then continued in a half mumble to himself "Though at the moment I guess that can justify anything we do."

It took Score two tries to get the lock to open. Harry knew that that was because the wand wasn't that good. Score had taught him that earlier and he was pleased to remember it and the different types of wands that could be made or bought.

"Ohh, can I ride up in the front?"

"Sure kid. Why not. Hop on in."

Score gave him a large smirk and then hit the accelerator down hard causing the tires to spin and the back to fishtail a little as they took off down the street.

Harry squealed in delight.

There was a faint crack behind them and Score said something harsh in a strange language as he glanced at the rear view mirror.

Harry spun around and stared out the back window to see the big policeman from the zoo holding onto a smaller man and spinning around to face them holding a big gun.

"Get down Harry."

Harry folded down just as a hail of bullets splattered against the back of the car shattering the rear window and putting two holes in the front window. Harry glanced up and thought they looked like invisible spiders sitting on glass webs.

The car jerked left and then straightened.

"Hang on Harry."

The car turned a corner hard and a few more bullets impacted the side of the car and more glass shattered some of it falling on Harry. Harry hoped he wasn't going to get cut by glass again.

...

"What now?" Fitzpatrick demanded as he stormed over to Wiley's desk.

He looked as bad as Wiley felt.

"Preliminary from the Little Whinging Dursley's is that it looks like the Nephew was treated as a slave or prisoner. Kept in a cupboard under the stairs with the cleaning supplies. Unsanitary bed, old blood spots, urine and sick stains. No sign of him in any of the family photos. That he was at the zoo with them seems surprising. We have people interviewing the neighbours now."

Fitzpatrick growled. "I hate child abuse. I presume child services have been called?"

At Wiley's nod he continued, "What was the other thing?"

"Body found in the middle of the street next to Talacre Gardens. More 5.56 shells and broken glass. Also tire skid marks. And this is where it get's unusual. Dead man was unusual so put a description over the radio. Had a report from one of the uniforms in Little Whinging that someone matching that description had been asking questions about Harry Potter only minutes before the shooting was reported."

Fitzpatrick squinted, "That makes no sense. They are miles apart."

Wiley nodded. "Yeah. Best time on the A3 and it'd be an hour drive. In traffic even longer. We are going by the assumption that there is some connection but obviously not the same person. Two short people, fairly similar physical descriptions and wearing near identical clothing. Possibly siblings or some sort of group."

"So now we have an official death using the weapons stolen from us. This just get's worse."

"Oh no. He wasn't shot, his neck was broken, crushed. Officer onsite suggested it looked like some big guy had crushed it with his bare hands. The guy also had a badly broken arm, mangled."

...

"Score. Score. Talk to me. Don't die."

"Hey Harry. I'm so sorry. I was meant to teach you all sorts of stuff. Even had a plan and all that. Look. Hey now, don't cry. I had a good life. Lots of action, lots of excitement. Even got to come back in time and see a bit of the world before it went to shit. Not many get that sort of chance."

"We got to get you to a hospital. You can't go and die on me now." Harry sobbed.

Score shook his head weakly, "No time and I'm not that important anyhow. Look. I can't get rid of the tracking charm and I don't know how it hid from me before. You need to get to the goblins and pay for a magical cleansing as soon as possible. Get rid of it and any more hidden ones. Then you need to get a wand and get as far away from here as possible. Take the money in the bag. The terminator is still going to keep looking but his power supply won't last more than a year and as long as you stay away from computers and cameras you'll be fine."

Score coughed a bit and grimaced at the blood on his handkerchief.

"I'm going to give you a lot of memories. I was going to show them to you and teach you about them but there is no time. I've just going to give them to you directly. It'll probably be real confusing at first but you really do need them."

Harry nodded in between sobs, "If you say so."

Score winced as he lifted his wand to his temple and closed his eyes for a few moments. He was so still that Harry thought for a moment that he had died. Then Score slowly pulled the wand away from his head trailing a thick bright stream made of a many glowing threads. Most of the threads were white but there were also thin strands of reds, greens and yellows amongst them.

"Your head, Harry. Lean forward."

Harry sniffled and leant forward so Score could touch his temple with the wand.

Suddenly Harry's mind was filled with a chaos of images, noises, sounds and feelings. Some were joyous others sad and many painful. Harry gasped, it felt like he was buried under it all. He struggled to escape then there was a crack, his head hurt, then everything went black.

...

"and the boy?"

"Mild concussion and a few scratches. Looks like he smashed his head against the concrete of the bridge support and knocked himself out. Couple of stitches and he'll be right as rain when he wakes."

"Any signs he was beaten or dragged?"

"Plenty of old bruises and old scars, a little recent bruising around the ribs, malnutrition. I'd say badly treated in general but nothing unusual for a small boy in the recenta dy. Think he was kidnapped?"

"Not sure. It's hard to know if is was him or the boy that was the target. Can you..."

"Can I what?"

"Shit. That cop… get out of here. I'm calling for backup."

Harry's eyes snapped open in fear. The bad cop was here. He had to get out.

From the hallway he heard shouting then gunfire. A few single shots then the rapid fire of the weapon that had killed Score.

More shouting. Harry grabbed his coat and shoved his arms into it. His pants he grabbed but didn't bother putting in. He looked out of the window and saw that he was only a few feet above a roof.

Trying the window he discovered it didn't open wide enough for him to squeeze out.

Magic. He needed to use magic.

He pushed.

There were some more shots from outside.

Giving up he smashed the window with a chair and leapt out. Tumbling and rolling down the sloping roof till he slid off the edge and landed with a thud in a large smelly bush.

He was further away but he was sure that the sound of rapid gunfire was now coming from in or near the room he had been in.

Scrambling out the bush and planter he found that he was just outside the outpatient entrance, on the otherside of the covered driveway. He took a moment to pull on his pants, stuffing the thin hospital gown down them and then he took off at a run his bare feet slapping the concrete of the sidewalk.

...

"What's he doing there?"

"We think he's got some sort of tracking device. We have him on camera checking it two other times within the hospital and each time he reacts the same way. Looks a specific direction, usually straight into a wall and then heads off along the closest hall. See."

There was some more gunfire from the television and both men winced.

"How is Huffman?"

"They're hopeful they'll be able to save the arm but it's unlikely he'll ever be able to return to field work."

"Damnation. He was Firearms best shot."

"Yeah. We have confirmed that he hit the target centre mass three times and we suspect more. Vest or not that should have at least slowed the man down but he barely shuddered. Some of the men are requesting authority to take headshots."

"Can't do that but I'll back up any officer that can take him down how ever it happens. With the pressure from up top I don't think the Inspectorate is going to make a fuss."

The scene changed.

"This is the last we see them. The boy heading roughly for central as he leaves. Then a few minutes later the target follows. Note that he pauses here and it looks like he checks the tracker three times from slightly different locations. We are pretty sure it's targeted on the boy but maybe there's some sort of interference at this point. We think it must be in the jacket or pants since that's all the boy took with him.

"Any chance we can pick up the signal?"

"I've been told not without having some sort of idea of the frequency or access to either the bug or tracker. We have called in a three civilian signals experts to try and clear up some of the pictures or work out what's causing all the interference. We still don't have a clear picture of either the boy nor the target."

"Damnation. We get any breaks at all?"

"We do have a few people that have confirmed that the sketches we have put together of the two are pretty accurate. Though there is some confusion on his hair. First responders on the scene for his pick up reported he had blonde hair like the second John Doe. Here you can see it's dark again. However we haven't been able to find any wig. Other good news is that the Birmingham team has finally arrived and are being briefed. They have two heavy arms specialists. Got a few approvals for you to sign so we can put them in the field. They pretty eager, Sloan was from Birmingham."

"Right. Give them here. We need to get this guy before we lose any more officers or civilians."

...

"Ten galleons."

"I don't have any money on me that's why I need the inheritance test to prove my identity."

"No galleons. No test."

"How about I pay you twenty after the test. You know the Potter accounts have at least that much."

"Fifty galleons and two percent of the cash value."

"Hell no. No way I'm paying a percentage. Fixed fee only."

"One hundred galleons then."

"Sixty, which is way more than I should ever be thinking of offering."

"You are wasting my time. One hundred for the test and twenty for the time wasted."

"Sixty or I go out and borrow ten galleons." Harry wondered if the barman at the Leaky cauldron would lend him the ten galleons.

"Humm.. Fine. Sixty."

The goblin opened the strange box on the table and pulled out a large piece of parchment titled, 'The Potter Account.'

"You already had it prepared?" Harry asked surprised.

The goblin smirked, "Inheritance tests for all major families are normal for first visits and you are quite recognisable. Should have started by stating you wanted to access the Potter accounts but I won't begrudge your donation to my personal liquor fund."

Harry rolled his eyes but he wasn't really that annoyed. He had a feeling or a memory that goblins would turn out to be useful allies in the future. He wondered how long it would take for his memories to sort themselves out. So far all he had got from them was the way to find Diagon Alley, eventually.

"Three drops of blood here, here and here."

Harry winced when, after he hesitated, the goblin assisted by grabbing his hand and jabbing his palm with a tiny dagger and squeezed the required drops on to the parchment.

"Well, well. Welcome to Gringotts Harry Potter. I hope your visit is an enjoyable one. Would you like to visit your vault, review your account information, or could I interest in any of our special services? I could even arrange a tailor and a cobbler to see to your needs in one of our private rooms. For a very special price for such a distinguished guest."

"I need a magical cleaning."

...

Tom looked up as the London entrance opened up and watched a large European wearing a London Policeman's uniform. When he noted that the uniform didn't quite fit right and had various holes in it he winced, and here he had thought the local wizards had no sense when trying to dress as a muggle.

"Afternoon Sir. What'll it be?" Tom didn't like the emotionless feel of the eyes that peered at him.

"Do you know where Harry Potter is?" came the flat reply.

Tom relaxed. Well this wasn't unexpected.

"Oh yes. Big news. Harry walked in here not more than an hour ago. He looked a bit tired and flustered, probably all the attention he's been getting. Poor boy. Got a bit hounded in here I'm afraid to admit but I mean. Well he did save us all. You want to shake his hand as well?"

The European snapped his head around to peer at a couple of patrons in the far corner chatting quietly.

Then turned back to face Tom, "Yes. Where is Gringotts?"

Tom blinked in surprise, "How did you guess? Yes that's exactly where he was wanting to go. Here I'll point the way just as I did for him. Follow me, I'm always happy to show visitors to our fine city how to enter Diagon Alley and you can just see the top of Gringotts from the doorway."

...

Harry walked into the lobby of Gringotts wearing his new leather backpack and cradling his new wand. It had been his mum's and he could almost feel the love radiating off it. He'd also brought his father's wand, more as a sign of respect than to use since it didn't quite feel right. His great grandfather's wand had actually felt slightly better than his mum's but he had in the end decided to leave that with all the others in the vault.

The small smile he was wearing vanished when he looked up to see two goblin guards asking the Terminator to wait outside. The Terminator must have heard his faint gasp across the lobby as its head snapped around and its hand darted into the police gym bag.

Harry dived behind a nearby counter as a hail of bullets slammed into the counter and the wall behind where he had just been standing.

There was a scream from a witch who had been standing at the counter and roars from all the goblin's in the lobby and then all hell seemed to break loose. Harry huddled behind the counter as flashes of light flew across the room lighting up the walls and gun shots rang out again and again.

More screams. Curses. Gunshots. Gunshots getting closer to the counter where he huddled.

He dared a quick glance and saw the Terminator. Now dressed in rags with flesh hanging from him. Massive metal crossbow bolts sticking through him causing him to stagger a bit as he moved forward. But he continued shooting at goblins, witches and wizards as they threw, fired and cast weapons, bolts and spells at it.

Another memory hit him and he scrunched up his eyes at the sudden headache than accompanied it.

Then he yelled out, "Hit it with lightning. Zap it."

It was an elderly witch with what looked like a vulture perched on her hat that listened to him and cast a powerful spell that lit up the terminator like a Christmas tree. The thing sparked and shuddered as the lightning coursed through it and charred its clothing and flesh.

As it toppled over he yelled out again, "It's only stunned. You need to melt it."

Harry was surprised no one argued and a dozen wands were suddenly pouring flames on to the prone figure.

Then from the inferno in the middle of the lobby the ghostly outline of the figure started to stand.

"It's not hot enough." Harry mumbled to himself.

"It's after you is it?" A thin nasty looking and rather short goblin asked.

Harry nodded without thinking about it.

"Right. We'll talk damages later but for now I need you to lead it to one of the dragons. Follow me. We need to run."

And run Harry did. For such a short creature the goblin was swift.

He heard another burst of lightning strike the Terminator but he somehow knew that it wouldn't have anywhere near the same effect until the charge from the last blast had had time to dissipate.

Sure enough as he reached the end of the hall leading from the Lobby he heard a smashing behind him and glanced around to see the Terminator take off half the wall as it smashed it's way through the small goblin sized arch way. There was no flesh or clothing on it now. Just a sheer shining robot like from a science fiction movie.

Harry was pleased to see that it looked damaged. Part of its arms looked splintered and it still had a large goblin crossbow bolt sticking through it's lower torso.

"Come on. We need more of a head start if we want to get the a cart moving before it rips up the track."

Harry ran as fast as he could.

...

The dragon grunted as it heard footsteps approaching at a run.

Food usually ran.

It bared its teeth and shuffled to face the passageway. A small part of its mind noted that it wasn't the passage that food normally came from but it was still hopeful.

And then the gonging started. The super sensitive ears felt it first and it knew the pain that would follow. The dragon snarled quietly and backed up.

Not obeying meant pain and no food.

Then the gonging was past and yet there was more running. Heavier clanking running. But not gonging.

The dragon knew this one too. Metal wearing man. A long time ago he had fought metal wearing man with flame and claw. Metal wearing man was enemy.

The gonging had stopped.

Sometimes metal wearing man brought food that Dragon could eat after killing metal man but what was more important was metal wearing man often had sharp things.

The dragon begun to draw in a deep breath.

The clanking was in front of him.

He breathed out. Long and hard.

The clanking stopped and a strange burning smell reached him. It didn't smell much like food.

Still that night he fed very well on three whole cows that ran into his chamber.

...

Albus Dumbledore returned from his conference to find the wizarding world in an uproar.

A metal goblin had been let loose in the lobby of Gringotts. Five notable wizards and a half dozen other wizards and witches had perished in the battle along with an unknown number of goblins.

Somehow it had used a muggle weapon that had punched straight through magical defences. All the weapons had been damaged beyond repair during the battle so one one knew how that had been achieved. Dumbledore didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

The goblins were demanding reparations and the ministry was threatening sanctions. No one knew who sent it though it was widely accepted that it had been after Harry Potter. The boy-who-lived and who was now the boy-who-was-missing.

That he was still alive was certain. The goblins had admitted as much when the ministry had started preparing to forcefully search Gringotts. But now the goblins were saying that he had left Gringotts on his own and had even sword a blood oath on that. Then they had charged the ministry a sizeable amount of goblins for that which certainly hadn't calmed any tempers.

Albus couldn't detect any of the tracking charms that he had placed on Harry. Not even the ones of his own design that remained near undetectable until they were triggered. Nor could he find Dedalus Diggle.

"Excuse me." He asked again, this time he let some of his magic reinforce his voice.

The goblin didn't look impressed but did finally look up and address him, "Yes, wizard? You are?"

Dumbledore resisted the urge to tell the goblin that he knew perfectly well who he was. Now was not the time to aggravate the goblins any further.

"I am Albus Dumbledore and I'd like to examine the vaults of one of my wards. Here are the keys for the vaults."

The goblin slowly picked up the three keys and peered at them for a few seconds before he slid open a small trap door on the top of the desk and dropped them through. There was a flash of flame and heat and the keys were no more. "Those keys have been deemed inactive. Anything else?"

"What? No. You can't.. " Albus spluttered.

The goblin sneered at him, "Can. Did. Wizengamot granted purview access to those vaults only lasted whilst the vaults are unclaimed."

"And who claimed those vaults? Harry Potter is still a minor and only wizards of age are allowed to claim Gringott vaults by order of the charter. I should know I am his guardian."

The goblin smirk grew all the wider and Albus noted that they had suddenly gathered a small audience of both goblins and humans. Including Rita Skeeter. Too late he realized that he had been set up.

"Wizards of age and goblins. Which, as a recently awarded goblin hero, Harry now classifies as per the section on half breed rights, section five of the charter. A section that you wizards forced through. I'm afraid we've also had to cancel all the regular donations from the Potter vault arranged by the Wizengamot, under your leadership, to Hogwarts, The Ministry and to the Wizengamot's own coffers. Still the nearly half a million galleons that have been transferred to those three accounts from the Potter's accounts since James and Lily Potter passed away should see that your supply of lemon drops never runs out. Mr Potter was also curious when all the Potter elves that were transferred to Hogwarts and if all the properties that had that were transferred to the you and your supporters would be returned?"

The ominous murmuring that grew as Albus quickly retreated was only the beginning of his bad day.

...

Superintendent FItzpatrick and a disgruntled Inspector Wiley entered his office.

"More bad news?"

Wiley nodded, "The bodies of the two John Does have both vanished and nothing makes sense about either case. John Doe one, purple top hat, seemingly just vanished from our morgue along with all his paperwork and now no one there seems to remember him even arriving or the autopsy including the doctor that did the autopsy and who sent as a copy of the report. He even admits it looks like his work but can't remember writing the report. The log book just has blank entries where the details should be even though we have copies of those exact same pages on record. Forensics has no idea how the ink could have been erased. They are talking about magic ink and yelling at each other now."

Fitzpatrick was tempted to bang his head on his table and then noticed a mild bruise on Wiley's forehead that suggested that his Inspector hadn't resisted as hard as he. "And the other?"

"Dwarves with axes is the leading explanation. That body was at the hospital morgue and from what it looks like a number of very short men used axes to cut their way through a two doors and one wall and then carried the corpse out after looting most of the medical equipment and all the medical alcohol from the morgue. Locks were smashed open. Glass shattered everywhere and a real mess made. There were footprints everywhere and all the evidence points to them just walking out through the short holes they made dragging the corpse and their loot with them. In sacks."

Fitzpatrick's forehead hit his desk with a thud.

...


	3. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

...

Harry peered through the rifle scope at the figures entering the mansion and spoke in a whisper.

"Gregorius Goyle, Amando Crabbe, three boys and then we have one Lucius Malfoy… ohh.."

"Master? Is anything wrong?"

"Eh.. just another flash back. Score. Scorpius. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy son of Draco Malfoy. Damn. Strike the Malfoys from the list."

"Master?"

Harry picked up his radio, "Withdraw. We have non-targets in the strike zone."

...

Later, a much younger looking Harry sat down at his desk and picked up a pen and began to write

_Seen through the eyes of Score. A graveyard. Most of the headstones destroyed by blast damage or weapons fire. Looking down at a conjured coffin in an open grave. Faint footsteps coming up beside me. _

_A voice that is all too familiar, 'For the longest time we were enemies. All through school and even during the first few years of the war. We butted heads on everything but finally we realized that all we both really cared about was the survival of our loved ones. He fought hard and if it wasn't for his contributions we wouldn't be where we are now.' _

_Viewpoint shifts to look at a much older version of myself looking down at the coffin. _

_Old me starts speaking again but this time not to me, 'Draco. Who would have ever thought I'd be so sad to lose you. You have been a stalwart companion, a strong leader and a good friend for many years now. If it wasn't for your dedication and strength of will we wouldn't now be seeing the end of the war. So long friend.'_

_Old me turns to face me as his wand falls into his hand, 'Together?'_

_The viewpoint shifts as I nod._

_A whispered word chorused and dirt once again fills the grave leaving no trace that anyone had been there._

'_Come on Score. Your mum needs you now.'_

'_Scorpius, Harry. The name is Scorpius.'_

'_I think Score suits you better. I heard Richardson found you in his daughter's tent last night.'_

'_Oh hell. Has everyone already heard?'_

'_Probably.'_

'_Damn.'_

Harry smiled slightly and leant back thinking fondly of the young man he now could remember growing up.

Slowly his mind turned to darker thought and he wondered if older him had know that he was sending Score back to die or if he was changing that future by ridding the world of so many Dark Wizards who thought nothing of killing other humans.

He guessed the only way he was going to find out was to wait and in the mean time he'd keep preparing.


End file.
